Apparatus for declustering, distributing, and assorting cherries



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G. FRovA Sept. 19, 1944.

APPARATUS F'OR DECLIUSTERIIING, DISTRIBUTING AND ASSORTING C/HERRIES Original Filed June 50, 1942 vG. FROVA sept. 19, 1944. l 2,358,500. APPARATUS FOR DECLUSTERIIIG, DISTRIVBUTING AND ASSORTING CHERRIES Original Filed June 30, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 G. FROVA sept, 19, 1944.

APPARATUS FOR DECLUSTERING, DISTRIBUTING AND ASSORTING CHERRIES 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed June 30, 1942 Sept. 19, 1944.

G. F ROVA APPARATUS FOR DECLUS'TERING, DISTRIBUTING AND ASSORTING CHERIES foriginal Filed June 5o, 1942 4 sheets-sheet 4 INV N TOR.

Patented Sept. 19, 1944 APPARATUS FOR DECLUSTERING, DISTRI- UTING, AND ASSORTING CHERRIES Giovanni Frova, Jackson Heights,`N. Y.

Original application June 30, 1942. Serial No. 449,116. Divided and this application February 22, 1943, Serial No. 476,701

" 8 Claims.

This is a division of my copending application filed June 30, 1942, With'Serial N0. 449,116.

' `invention relates to apparatus for declustering, distributing and assorting cherries and thelike.

v'The main object of my invention is to provide an feiciently combined Japparatus capable of receiving cherriesinclusters', for example, and'not only separating the cherriesin each cluster but using thindividual stems of the separated cherries to dispose the latter by an intermediate operation in proper position for pitting out through the stemend of each cherry.

A further Objectis to have a compact apparatus for the present purpose which requires a minimum of attendants andy `occupies a minimum amount of floor space, while requiring a minimum outlay of funds for a maximum output of pitted and sorted cherries or other product of this class. Y

Other objectsrand the .advantages of my invention and its actual use in practice will appear more fully in detail as this specification proceeds.

In order to bring out thesalient features of the invention in comprehensible manner and to the best advantage, the same is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, in which: n n f Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying the invention in practical form and exhibiting the features and advantages thereof.

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the same. g

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the machine as seen from the right in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view ofthe right end or de-clustering portion of the drum surmounting the apparatus of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 -isa further enlarged view of a portion Iof the same apparatus shown in Fig. 3, illustrating one of a. plurality of devices for catching and separating a cluster of cherries, preparatory to grading of the cherries in succeeding sections of and fruits as cherries and the like,y certain operations have heretofore been carried out by handand while others have been effected by separate machines. dling of the cherries at various stages and the use of a considerable number of attendants..

This involves expense, inconvenience, and the use of a great amount of floor space, all of which greatly increases the cost of the final product.

In order to overcome these disadvantages, and particularly with `the foregoing objects in view it is now proposed to carry out in a combined machine the entire group of operations required to put and deliver cherries 'and the like from the original clusters.

Hence, referring now again to the drawings in" with a ring gear I2 on the periphery at one end of a grading or distributing drum generally indicated at I3. This drum is supported in inclined position upon a group of grooved rollers I4, I5, etc., carried on an arm I6 on a second post I 'I and on further supports I8, I9, etc., on the machine frame, the drum having'spaced peripheral rails 20, 2|, etc., riding in the grooves of the rollers and thereby locating said drum in position while allowing the same to rotate on said rollers. n

Forming the rst or introductory portion of drum I3 is a de-clustering section 22 which is located at the higher end of the drum, immediately` within a hopper 23 supported closely adjacent said end of the drum by a bracket 24 secured to post I0 and by an extension 25 upon the second post II already mentioned.

VA further bracket 26 extends from the hopper toward the edge of the drum and meets with an upward extension 21 upon post I0 in order tov support a stationary bracket 28 which has an upper cutting blade 29 extendingy horizontally toward the periphery of the drum and a movable knife or cutter 30 dove-tailed at 3|, 32 to the rst blades so as to be slidable with respect to the same in the axial direction of the drum.

In order to operate the cutter constituting this construction,` the edge 33 of the de-clustering portion of the drum has a series of projections 34. 34

This has entailed repeated rehancontact of finger with a drum projection 34,

a return spring 42 attached to the lower portion of plate 30 at one end and at the otherend to a post 43 on bracket 28 will cause the cutters to separate ready for the next cutting operation. As best Seen in Fig. 4, each .cutter member 29, 3U

is comb-shaped to form a multiple cutter. the t movement being limited by, and the cutters fur-V ther retained in association by retaining studs 84 on the lower fixed multiple cutter plate 30 extending up through operating slots 85 in the upper movable'cutte'r member 29.

In order to'cooperate with the cutters, agroup of rigid arms 44 extend radially inward from the interior of the de-clusteringr section ofthe drum 0 nection between the stems in each cluster will beY snipped off by the closing of the cutters. When the stems of the cherries have thus Abeen separated, the latter with their individual stems intact will gradually feed down along the gradingA sections 45 to 49, due to the rotation of the latter and slight-inclination ofthe same, so that the cherrieswill travel within said drum until the section is reached wherein the holes 50, etc., are sufciently large to allow these cherries to drop through. As grading drums for-various purposes are well known, it will suice to mention that in this section45 the'holes 5| are the Vsmallest in the series, while the holes or apertures in the succeed.- ing sections are increasingly larger with the holes 52'in section 49 largest of all. It may be added that the apertures in the grading'sections are, of course,placed all about the drum so that the fruit, dropping through the same will be distributed kand fall y upon a lseries of predetermined points of Va slidable reciprocating feed plate 53 having rollers 54 resting upon a supporting plate 55 supported upon posts 56 and |1. Below the drum an apron 51 and a stem retainer 58 have the upper surfacesV inclined in converging manner generally toward the initial location of row the feed plate is connected a link 62 at 63 which in turn is connected to and driven by a bar 64 fixed upon a sliding shaft 65 supported in a bearing 66 in post Il) while across head 61 connects said-shaftA with an eccentric ring 68 mounted upon aneccentric'l'xed on drive shaft 4.

From the foregoing it is clear that upon rotation of the drive shaft the'eccentric 69 will cause' shaft-65 to reciprocate-in bearing 66, and thus through bar 64, and link 62,` drive the feed plate 53'upwardly along'the support 55 until apertures 59 will register with the upper end of a row of tubes 10 which open'in predetermined position through support plate 55. However, when the cherries have been brought part of the distance toward these tubes, the stems thereof will make contact with an entrance portion beneath stem retainer 58 which will tend to turn down the stem due to the movement of the -feed plate 53 and wipe said stems under said stem retainer, sothat each cherry that has a stem is virtually suspended upon the feed plate by the stem above the corresponding tube 10 during movement of this feed plate until said plate has moved the cherry beyond said tube 10 to one of a series of rear feed tubes 12. Any excess cherries upon the plate above the one deposited in cherry aperture 59 will be brushed off by the downwardly directed brushes 1| (Fig. '7) mounted at the entrance portion of the stem retainer, and` due to the `sharp inclination of the feed plate, such excess cherries will roll back to the initial position ofthe cherry aperturefready tov drop into the same during a succeeding cycle ofoperation of the feed plate. The cherries having stems will thus be carried by the feed plate past. tube '10, but should any cherry have lost-its stem, the stem retainer 58 will not Aoperate to suspend` the cherry in the aperture 59, but said cherry will `instead drop from `said aperture down through tube 1 0 to a collector 13 vbelow the machine,` At a point approximately above tube 10, thestem retainer` terminates so that when the cherries which have been carried past tube 10 reachtube 12,*the steml Vretainer no longer retains the stems lyingupon feed plateV 53, but frees the same so `that these.

cherries may drop individuallyinsaid tubes 12, down into Vindividual troughs or 4the like in a trough member 11 for .further operations, as more fully set Vforth in my copending application, Serial No, 476,702, ined February 22, 1943.

Following the operation,fr0m the hopper 23 onward, it may be assumed that 'amore or less con--A tinuous supply ofclusters of.cherriesare Yfed to` the hopper whence `the clusters .feed in by gravity from said hopper 23 to the interior of the declustering section 22 of the grading drum |3, thelatter being. rotated clockwise in Figure 3. The. clusters are picked up by the inwardly extendingl pins or arms 44 and as each cluster is caused to pass the bracket 28 and the cutters 29 andv30, the cutter 30 being operated through arm 38,; rocking shaft 36 and contact of flnger 35 on'said shaft with projection 34 on the drum.

As shown in Figure 5 the Vconnecting branch portion |21 of the cherries 60 will be cut oi from 62, when these cherries will be passed to anddrop'v into feed tubes 12 and deposited individually in troughs or the like in trough member 11 previ-, ously referred to and fully disclosed in said copending application- Y I Manifestly other variation may be resorted t0,- such as for example, the different sizes and shape of :cutters for de-clustering-and differentY forms of arms upon-the de-clu'stering section of the drum, et-c., may be adapted to suit conditions.,

the drum being adapted forY receiving clusters' 'of cherries and the like in the interior thereof,

there being means for driving said drum, cutting l means disposed in an effective position to cut the cluster stems apart when the inwardly extending arms b y rotation of the drum are brought up substantially to horizontal position at one side with the clusters pendently carried by their stems upon said arms, means for supporting the cutting means, and means for operating said cutting means during rotation of Said drum, the means for operating the cutting means including a 'plurality of end projections spaced apart upon the end portion of the drum, a rocking shaft transversely disposed with respect `to the axis of said drum, a finger upon one endgof said rocking shaft in the path of said projections and caused to move by each rprojection in succession so as to rock or partly rotate said shaft, and an arm mounted upon the other end of the shaft and connected to a cutting member of the cutting means for operating the same upon rock ing of said shaft.

2. Automatic apparatus for de-clustering or separating the stems of individual cherries in a cluster, including the combination of a rotatable drum having a plurality of spaced arms projecting radially inward from the inner wall thereof, the yislrum being adapted for receiving clusters of cherries and the like in the interior thereof, there being means for driving said drum, cutting means disposed in -an effective position to cut the cluster stems apart when the inwardly extending arms by rotation of the drum are brought up substantially to horizontal position at one side with the clusters pendently carried by their stems uponA said arms, means for supporting the cutting means, and means for operating said cutting means during rotation of said drum, the cutting-means and the means for operating the same including a group of operating members upon the drum,a cutter shaft mounted adjacent to the end of said drum, an engagement means on one portion of said shaft disposed in a position to engage with and be operated by said operating members so as to operate said shaft, a movable cutter member, an arm upon the shaft connected to said cutter member and capable of operating the same, the support means upon the machine supporting both the shaft and cutter member, and a second cuttermember fixed on said support means in a position to cooperate withthe first mentioned cutter member and the inwardly extending arms being arranged in rows corresponding to the positions of said operating members and disposed in effective positions to bring the branch portions of cherry clusters between said cutter members when the operating members are about to operate said cutter members through said engagement means, shaft and arm.

3. Apparatus for handling fruits and berries such as cherries, and separating the fruit without stems from those with stems, including a rotatable distributing drum,A support means and drive means for the same, an inclined plate support beneath said drum, a feed plate slidable o-n said plate support for receiving the fruit descending from said drum and having fruit receiving apertures therein, reciprocating means connect ing said `feed plate tov said drive? means for recipf rocating the lplate fromY a lower receiving position to a 'higher delivery position, said supporting plate havingtwo spaced groups of delivery apertures with which the receiving apertures in the feed plateV register 1in succession, two groupsfof fruit delivery means connected independently'to said two groups of apertures, and means causing the fruitV without stems to drop through said feed plate into the first group of 'delivery apertures andthe delivery means connected thereto when the receiving apertures `in the plate register with said r'st apertures and causing the fruit lwith stems to remainin said receiving apertures while they ypass overl said first .group of delivery` aperturcs and then drop throughthe feed plate-into the'delivery Aapertures of the second groupand into the delivery means connected thereto.

4. Apparat/us according to claim 3, wherein the means causing the fruit with stems to pass the first group of delivery apertures'includesa stationary stem retainer located above the feed plate and spaced a small distance from the same in parallelism with the upper surface thereof so as to hold fruit stems downtoward the plate during movement of the latter past the first group of delivery apertures in said supporting plate, said retainer extending only a limited distance over the path of movement of said plate and terminating at a point which frees the stems in time to allow the fruit to drop from the plate into the second group of delivery apertures.

5. Apparatus laccording to claim 3, wherein the means causing the fruit with stems to pass the first group of delivery apertures includes a stationary stem retainer located above the feed plate and spaced a small distance from the same in parallelism with the upper surface thereof so as to hold fruit stems down toward the plate during movement of the latter rpast the first group of delivery apertures in said supporting plate, said retainer extending only a limited distance over the path of movement of said plate and terminating at a point which frees the stems in time to allow the fruit to drop from the plate into the second group of delivery apertures, said stem retainer having an inclined entrance portion and upon said portion brush means for returning excess cherries from oli the receiving apertures on the feed plate.

6. Apparatus for separating the stems of individual cherries in a cluster, and separating the cherries with stems from those having no stems, including a rotatable distributing drum having a plurality of spaced arms projecting radially inward from the inner wall thereof, said drum being adapted to receive clusters of cherries and the like within the interior of the same, there being means for rotatably supporting said drum and means for driving the latter, cutting means disposed in a position to cut the cluster stems apart when the inwardly extending arms by rotation of the drum are brought up to substantially horizontal position at one side with the clusters pendently carried by their stems upon said arms, means for supporting the cutting means, and means for operating said cutting means during rotation of said drum, an inclined plate support for receiving the fruit descending from said drum and having fruit receiving apertures therein, reciprocating means connecting said feed plate to said drive means for reciproeating the lplate from a lower receiving position to a higher delivery position, said supporting plate-having two spaced groups of deliveryapertureswith which the; receiving apertures in the feed'. plate iregister in succession',l two groups of` fruit .deliverymeans connected independently to said two groupsof apertures, and means causing the fruit without stems to drop through said feed plate into the first group of delivery apertures and the delivery means-connected thereto when stems upon vthe same, said rplate having fruit receiving apertures therein.. means for reciproicating said feedV plate, from one toanother position, two groups of delivery means spaced apart lbeneath said feed plate with which the yapertures inv said feed platel register in succession, means `causing the cherries with stems to remain in the apertures inthe feed plate when the latter register with one group of said delivery means beneath the plate and causing the cherries without stems to drop from the plate apertures into said delivery means of said one group, and causing the cherries with stems to drop with the stems directed upwards into the delivery means of the second or remaining group when the apertures in said feed plate register therewith, and means t for receiving the cherries with stems from said delivery means of the second group.

, 8. Apparatus according to claim 7, in which the plate supporting means includes a plate having two spaced groups of apertures independently connected to the two groups of delivery means.

GIOVANNI FROVA. 

